On 6th February, Manchester band IST IST released their fifth studio album DAGGER. Forged in the adrenaline of relentless touring, the record sees the Mancunians preparing to take that momentum back on the road with a UK and Ireland tour this spring.
Aggressive and unapologetically IST IST, DAGGER captures a raw, rock ’n’ roll edge that previously lived primarily in their live shows. It pushes their sound into more experimental territory, resulting in by far their most dynamic release to date. I caught up with guitarist Mat Peters to talk about the album and what comes next.
Q. You’ve described DAGGER as a double-edged sword representing duality. How does that idea play out across some of the songs on the album?
A. “I think we wanted the sound of the album to be a little bit more aggressive and in your face. At the same time, I think a lot of the songs are quite upbeat and danceable. Sonically, we were trying to make something that was both quite visceral and aggressive, but also so you could easily listen to it. It’s got a nice tempo to it, and a lot of it’s quite joyous as well as being quite dark. I think that’s the two things that we like to to play with quite a lot”.
Q. You began writing the record straight after touring, carrying the momentum from the live shows into the studio. How consciously would you say that you were thinking about the songs in a live setting when you were making them?
A. “Quite a lot I’d say. Interestingly, with this one we didn’t actually play a lot of these songs as a group in a room. We spent a lot more time working on them as demos on our laptops. I think we’re a bit more rock and roll on stage than maybe we are on the record. I think on the records we’re a little bit more polished. Our producer Joe Cross is really good at making sure everything’s sounding great, and it’s got its own space in the mix. With this one, we’d gone out on tour with the last album more than we’d ever been on tour. I think we were just thinking, ‘let’s turn up the guitars a bit like we do live, and let’s let the drums be a bit more in your face and aggressive’. We really like the sound of how this is on stage, so let’s get a bit more of that into the record”.
Q. With DAGGER pushing your sound forward, how did you make sure it still felt like an IST IST record?
A. “You’ve got to try not to worry about it, because I think it’ll happen anyway because it is still the four of you. Adam’s voice has got a big part to play in it. We always joke that we could do anything musically we want, as long as he’s singing on it. ‘I Am The Fear’, which is the first song on the album and the first single we released, was quite different. It has elements of everything we’ve done and it was a natural progression. It was a bit of a risk, but you’ve got to keep trying new things. That was a song that Adam wrote, and then he said he was going to delete it. Just before he did, he was like, ‘I’ll send it to the lads and see what they think’. We all just thought that it was amazing. Then, it didn’t really change that much from when he originally wrote it”.
Q. Compared to your previous albums, would you say that making DAGGER demanded more confidence in trusting your instincts creatively?
A. “Yeah, I think so. We knew what we wanted a bit more this time. With the last album, it was our first one working with any producer, so we were trusting him a lot and letting him do his thing with it. Whereas this time, I think we were all a bit more clear on what what we wanted to do. It was a bit more of a back and forth, and we were coming in with a bit more confidence as well, understanding how the producer-band relationship works and being able to bring more stuff to the table. I think a big part of it is intuition. We have a lot of discussions and sometimes it’s frustrating, but half of its lengthy discussion, and then half of it’s just, ‘yeah, that sounds good let’s do it’. You just never know which way it’s going to go. Some songs are really easy, and you just all feel it and vibe off it. But then other songs you’ve got to really do it by committee and talk about stuff. That’s how you get good results”.
Q. You’re about to embark on a UK and Ireland tour. Which track from DAGGER are you most excited to bring to a live audience?
A. ” I think ‘Encouragement’ is a really good one. We’ve just come back from three weeks in Europe, so we’ve been out for a while already and a lot of the songs have been going down really well. I think because we’re from the UK, there’s a lot of fans here that have been with us since day one, so I’m really excited to go out and play to them. Also, they’ve been waiting that little bit longer since the album came out at the start of February. They’ve been waiting a long time, and ‘Encouragement’ is one of the highlights in a live setting. We wrote it to be a really cool live moment, and it slowly builds and keeps going. I think that one’s going to be great”.
Q. You’re set to play a major hometown show at the Albert Hall in Manchester. Would you say that hometown shows carry a different weight compared to the rest of the tour?
A. “Yes and no. Yes because it is Manchester, and that’s where we’re from and where we started. The Albert Hall is one of my favourite venues, and I’ve seen so many of my favourite bands there. But, I think to keep your head on your shoulders, you’ve got to just treat it like any other show at the same time. That’s how you’ll get the best performance out of yourself, and you won’t put as much pressure on yourself either. There naturally is more pressure, but you’ve got to ignore that. All of our friends and family will be there, and it’ll be the last show of the tour, so it’s going to be really special. I’m just glad it’s at the end of the two months of touring where I think we could probably play those songs in our sleep. I mean, we can already, to be honest, but especially by that point. We won’t be thinking about it too much, and can just enjoy the moment”.
Q. You’re an independent band, and have remained independent throughout your entire career. 10 years in, how central would you say this DIY approach is to who you are as a band?
A. “We’ve never really known any different. You take for granted the fact that you can do whatever you want. It does come with some frustrations, but at the same time, a lot of those come down to money. We’ve been doing this full time as a job for two years, all off our own back with no advances or loans. It’s just purely from the money that we get from touring and selling records. So I think that’s pretty amazing, and that’s sort of what we’re based on really. I don’t think we would say no to some sort of deal, but what would have to be really clear is the creative control. I think our strength is the fact that we do a lot of the things ourselves, and we’re very hands on. We make the decisions on what we release and when we release it. It’s taken over 10 years, but we’re here now and we don’t owe anyone anything, so it’s a pretty good achievement”.
Q. Looking ahead, when people revisit DAGGER in a few years, what do you hope it says about where you were at this point in your career?
A. “What people think of it is different to what I think of it, because by the time we release it we stop listening to it and we start playing it live. Our relationship to it is completely different, and our headspace now is to sort of start writing the next one. In a simple answer, I think people will see it as one of our most true to ourselves albums. I think there’s a feeling that it ties back to our first album Architecture. The very monochromatic, black and white aesthetics and all that sort of thing. We’ve solidified the image of the band a lot more, and that’s tied into the album really well. I feel like the fans have gone up another level over this album, and we’ve picked up a lot more new people. People will look back on it as one of our best albums. That’s what I hope anyway”.
Words by Lucy Thomas
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